The California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) announced on August 22 that a segment of the high-speed rail line is expected to open in 2038. This marks a long-awaited update to the costly and long-delayed California high-speed rail project, but it is still far from the original blueprint of connecting San Francisco and Los Angeles with a bullet train.
According to the latest official report released by the California High-Speed Rail Authority, the high-speed rail project is expected to start operation in the Central Valley as early as 2032.
The report indicates that the segment from Gilroy (about 80 miles southeast of San Francisco) to Palmdale (about 37 miles north of Los Angeles) is expected to be the first to open in 2038 (possibly by 2039), with a construction cost of approximately $87 billion. However, due to insufficient funding at the moment, the connection between San Francisco and Los Angeles remains unattainable.
Following this announcement, there has been a wave of controversy online. Many taxpayers are questioning the significance of having a high-speed rail connection between Gilroy and Palmdale – having to endure hours of traffic to reach one of the high-speed rail stations, only to still be unable to reach Los Angeles or San Francisco in the end.
Some argue that the latest so-called “transformative” plan by the California High-Speed Rail Authority is not the bullet train from San Francisco to Los Angeles as initially envisioned, but rather a defunct fantasy, a failed project that is draining billions of taxpayers’ dollars.
The report notes that there are currently 119 miles of construction in progress in the Central Valley, but the state government needs to accelerate progress to expand closer to major cities like the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles, and secure a stable source of funding to attract more private investors. The project is in dire need of assistance from the private sector. Recently, the High-Speed Rail Authority received responses from 31 private investors and has begun meeting with them.
Back in 2008, the California High-Speed Rail project outlined an ambitious plan: connecting San Francisco and Los Angeles, then extending north to the state capital of Sacramento and south to San Diego.
The project was approved by then-Governor Jerry Brown in 2012, with groundbreaking authorized and scheduled for completion in 2020, initially estimated to cost $33 billion. However, the total cost has skyrocketed to $128 billion. As of February this year, California has invested $13.6 billion in the project, completing only 38 structures and 39 miles of track.
Yet another funding gap has emerged for the project this year, with the High-Speed Rail Authority requesting an additional $7 billion from the state legislature by June 2026 to kick off the first phase of construction. Due to massive costs, continuous overspending, and prolonged completion timelines, the U.S. Department of Transportation withdrew approximately $4 billion in federal funding in July.
Starting from August 19, the U.S. House Committee officially launched an investigation into the California High-Speed Rail project. The focus of this inquiry is whether the High-Speed Rail Authority inflated passenger forecasts and financial conditions deliberately in order to secure federal and state government funds.
“Despite warnings from experts, the High-Speed Rail Authority has apparently repeatedly used misleading passenger forecasts, raising serious questions about whether funds were allocated under false pretenses,” stated James Comer, Chairman of the U.S. House Oversight Committee, in a press release. “The substantial cost overruns and slow progress warrant a reevaluation of whether the Authority is operating in a lawful and transparent manner.”
The California High-Speed Rail Authority has refuted the House’s investigation and claims as “baseless.”